


Redemption

by orphan_account



Series: JayTim Week 2016 Entries [6]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU (Comics), Teen Titans (Comics), Young Justice (Comics)
Genre: F/F, Focuses more on the friendships than the romance, Gen, Let's see if this is still as profound after I've had some sleep, M/M, Reunions are teary, Starts out sad, gets better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-15
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-08-09 01:06:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7781002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Entry #6</p>
<p>Steph and Cass get to see the boys again. Reunions are always a delicate business.</p>
<p>Check the series for the premise (JayTim Week 2016 Entries).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Redemption

They have a quiet night to themselves for once. Cass is planning to patrol some later, but for now Stephanie has a standing promise of getting her undivided attention for the duration of a whole movie. Stephanie plans to make the most of that time. 

She’s standing in the living room folding towels from the laundry when Cass comes home from work. Stephanie hums a happy little tune and pretends to ignore Cass when she feels slender arms encircle her waist. It causes Cass to get closer and bury her nose in Stephanie’s neck, which really was the plan all along. 

“You’re happy,” Cass mumbles into her neck. Stephanie hums. 

“I have a night off. That only happens once in a blue moon with the job I have. Better be ready to make the most of it.”

Cass huffs an amused breath. She raises her head and presses a kiss to Stephanie’s cheek, which she gladly accepts. She returns it with a proper kiss, while her hands continue to expertly fold without the need to look at what she’s doing. 

Cass reaches out to take the towel from her hands once they break apart, and Stephanie almost lets her take it when the doorbell suddenly rings. It’s an odd occurrence, which leads her to believe that it’s either going to be someone that wants something from them or trying to sell them something. Either way, they’re going to be quickly sent away. 

“Hold that thought.” Stephanie says softly. She pecks Cass on the cheek and folds up the last towel, stacking it on top of the others. She walks past her wife and gives her a quick, one-armed hug on the way to the door. Cass gives her a fond and amused look, and Stephanie winks at her. She opens the door and stops, freezing in place. 

Behind her, Cass goes tense with alarm at the sight of her. She walks up behind Steph and puts a protective hand around her waist, but then she sees who is at the door. Her eyes go wide, her mouth falling open. 

“Tim,” Stephanie says. All the relaxation and mirth has been suddenly shocked from her system.

The man in the door is unmistakably Tim Drake. He is a great deal older, as well as taller and more angular in the face, but it is clearly him. Stephanie would know that face anywhere.

There is a man behind him, holding his shoulder in the same protective way that Cass is holding Steph. Stephanie has to take an extra moment to place this one, but then it clicks. She can place that face in the pictures in Alfred’s albums, the file on the computer. She remembers the footage from Bruce’s mask the night he came home with a scuffed-up suit and stayed in the cave for a week afterwards. 

“Jay,” Cass whispers. Stephanie swallows. 

Tim is shifting uncomfortably on their doorstep. He looks at Jason, who gives him a look that is stern, yet supportive. Tim looks back at Stephanie. 

“Hi, Steph,” he says and waves weakly. 

***

“So,” Tim says. “You two, huh?”

“Yeah.” Steph stirs her tea slowly. She’s been looking at it for ten minutes now. Cass sits next to her, rubbing her back slowly. Jason and Tim sit on the couch opposite them. Jason is softly squeezing Tim’s knee. 

“I guess things have a way of working out, huh?” Tim smiles. It’s clearly meant to be friendly, encouraging, but it comes off as just as uncertain as they all feel. 

“They apparently do,” Steph replies, looking pointedly at Jason. She and Tim lock eyes for a moment, in which a lot of information is passed and parsed. Tim blinks. Stephanie swallows. 

“I’m happy that they did,” Tim says, and it sounds more genuine. Stephanie feels her forehead and shoulders relax, tension that she didn’t know she was carrying. She puts her tea on the coffee table.

Cass squeezes her shoulder, a world of meaning in a simple gesture. Stephanie looks at her, almost pleading, but she knows her wife has a point. She stands up, brushing off her lap even though it doesn’t need it. Her eyes stay on the floor. 

“Could we talk?” she asks, zeroing in on Tim. “In private?”

Tim actually looks scared. He stands up slowly and straightens out his already meticulous jacket. Jason trails his fingers along Tim’s hand before letting go. Tim follows Stephanie to the glass door which leads to the  balcony, The cold air is fresh and yet not, laced with Gotham’s many fumes, when she opens it. 

She waits for him to swing it closed, leaning on the railing of the balcony and watching the cars pass on the street just below them. She breathes, just feeling the cold in her lungs. Tim walks up and leans on the railing beside her. They stand there in silence for a long minute. Stephanie tries in vain to sort through all the questions, accusations, statements, apologies, that she has. She gets nowhere in her attempt to organise them. Then Tim speaks. 

“It’s still just as pretty as when I left,” he says. Stephanie looks up, and sure enough the lights of Gotham are numerous and breathtaking. It’s more crowded, noisy, and cramped than the last time they were both able to look, but it’s still every bit their city. 

She remembers sitting on a rooftop with him, laughing until she was snorting at something he said. A warm feeling spreads in her chest. She squeezes her laced fingers, hands suspended just as she has always been in the air over Gotham. 

“Was leaving what you did?” she asks, and it feels like acid in her mouth. “You didn’t die or fake it or get kidnapped or anything?”

She isn’t sure who she aims to hurt with that, but it evidently strikes at them both. She doesn’t know which of them she is more angry at, Tim or herself. She still doesn’t know if she has any right to be angry with him for what happened. 

“I left.” A beat. Then he chuckles, breathless. “Just like that. I gave it all up.”

“Why?” she asks. 

That gives him pause. She has always been blunt. To be honest, she wasn’t expecting that question either. She just wants to know. She wants to be able to judge if the reason was good enough for leaving everyone. Even after everything. 

“Steph.” Tim turns towards her, and the nickname tears at her. “I didn’t leave because of you, or Bruce, or anyone. It wasn’t anyone’s fault.”

She returns his gaze, and he suddenly averts it. 

“Well, no one’s but mine.”

There’s the self loathing she knew and loved to spite. Too bad it won’t help anything here.

“Just tell me what happened, Tim. The whole story. I don’t care about anything else.”

_ Anything else  _ being what it means that he came back now. She’s with Cass, he’s with Jason, and there never was a chance between the two of them to start with. If he is happy with Jason then they are in as good a position as they are going to get. 

“You remember what happened with the Titans,” Tim says. Stephanie draws in a shaky breath. They all remember. They remember everyone that died. In the line of duty or otherwise. It’s the only constant in their line of work. 

“I couldn’t deal with it. I wanted to salvage something, anything I could get.” Tim is back to looking at Gotham’s lights. “I did. Using Luthor’s methods.”

Stephanie breathes in sharply. She stands up straight and looks at him, but he isn’t done talking. 

“I was alone, Steph, and I had nowhere to go. No one to tell. So I ran.”

Tim shrinks in on himself. Stephanie opens her mouth, but she has nothing to say. Tim continues, looking defeated when she does nothing to answer him. 

“I ran into Jason when the clone was about a year old. By some miracle, it somehow worked out. For a while I was happier than I ever thought I’d be able to be. After everything that happened.”

His hands wring together. He’s wearing fingerless gloves. They look a little out of place together with his semi-formal suit. Knowing him, there are probably gadgets or poison or smoke pellets in them. Provided he still does that kind of thing. 

“I’ve had a great fifteen years with Jason. Raising our child, living together. “ 

He grips at his left hand in a way she knows. There’s a hidden ring under that glove.

“Making myself into something more than what I was.” 

He stands up straight and looks at her, and his eyes are open and pleading. 

“But the fact is that I don’t think I can be this happy anymore unless I have you guys in my life again. You’re all my family. You’re his family.”

Does he mean Jason or the child? Stephanie doesn’t know. 

It becomes increasingly clear with each passing second that he is expecting her to speak now. She wonders if she could say anything to make it better, or at least not worse. She is a mix of emotions. Fifteen years of angry and broken uncertainty over what ever happened to him mingle with overwhelming relief at getting to finally see him again. She wants to be angry, but it’s not like he’s the first family member to ever pull a disappearance, and she is no longer sure how strong her leg is to stand on. Fifteen years have eroded the need to fight, leaving only the overwhelming need to know. Now she does. 

So what parts of this really matter? 

Tim is shrinking away again, worried by her lack of response. For a moment, he looks like he might retreat, and she worries if that means disappearing from her life once again. She opens her mouth, looks for the first thing she can think of. 

“Are you sure you still want us to be?”

Tim’s eyebrows raise almost to his hairline. He blinks at her. 

“I mean,” she gestures in the most useless way. “You have a child and a husband, and if I’m interpreting it right, a normal life now. Are you sure you want to drag them back into this? This family of fighting and drama and… all this. I mean, we kind of read like an episode of Days of Our Lives on most days.”

Tim opens his mouth. He thinks. Then he laughs, a weak, breathless sound. 

“I don’t think I would be able to keep him out of it anyway. He’s got all his birth father’s powers. He’d find his way into trouble sooner or later.”

He reaches forward, and Stephanie takes only a moment to offer her hand. Tim holds it softly, studying it. 

“I would like nothing more, Steph, but only if you feel okay with it. What you think actually kind of matters the most.”

There’s a growing lump in her throat. The gesture is so reminiscent of his teenage self that she thinks she might cry. She nods silently. Tim traces a thumb across her palm. 

“Yeah? He asks, looking into her eyes. He wants strong confirmation. Her emotions are getting to be too much. Stephanie is crying now. Tears are welling up and spilling down her cheeks, because Tim is alive and finally home and now he’s asking for her permission to be. It’s uncertain and strange and so unbelievably  _ Tim.  _

“Yeah,” she says. Tim’s smile is wide, and his eyes are now also welling with tears. He takes a hesitant step forward, letting her initiate the hug. He squeezes her tight, as though she might slip into thin air if he lets go. She returns the gesture. 

It takes a long minute for them to be satisfied with the contact. They separate, but keep their arms around each other, just trying to drink in the details of each other’s faces. Stephanie grins and makes a happy, broken sound. Tim laughs, but it comes out half sob. Then they’re both laughing softly. They press together tightly once more. 

When they let go, Tim puts his hands on her face, just holding it tenderly. He visibly swallows some outburst of emotion. 

“You look so beautiful,” he says. Stephanie puts her hands over his and closes her eyes. 

“Totally unrelated,” she says, which sets them off laughing again. 

They take a minute or so to calm down again. Stephanie wipes at her eyes and lets Tim do the same without comment. Tim clears his throat. He straightens out his coat again. A redundant gesture. 

“We should get back inside,” he says. Stephanie looks through the glass door, and her hand shoots out to stop him before he can reach for the handle. 

“I think we should wait a little bit,” she replies. He frowns, confused, but then he sees it as well. 

Inside the living room, Jason and Cass have met halfway around the coffee table. They’re standing still, clutching each other close in a hug similar to their own. Jason’s face is visibly emotional. 

Tim produces an understanding hum. He looks at her and gestures back to the balcony railing. They resume their position of leaning on it and looking out at the city. The atmosphere is now a lot more comfortable, relieved. They no longer feel as though one of them might leave suddenly. 

“So,” Stephanie says after a moment of thought. “What’s his name? What’s he like?”

“My son?” Tim asks. At her nod, he continues. “Sebastian Drake-Todd is the birth certificate name, but in parts of Europe and Australia as well as Egypt it’s Sebastian Benson. In all those places I also go by Ian, so it’s up to him what he wants to be called now.”

Stephanie smiles. “It’s a nice name.”

“Thank you. He’s named after Ives.”

“Oh.” She draws the word out, understanding. “I never did find out what his name actually was.”

They chuckle. Tim shakes his head fondly. 

“He’s a little hellraiser. Took us years to figure out his TTK together. I realise now that Kon was actually making it look easy.”

“To be fair, he is what, a quarter Kryptonian?” He nods. She nods back thoughtfully. 

She licks her lips. Tim is still thinking of what to say next, so she sees an opportunity. It’s as good a time as any. 

“We, uh, have some too. Twin girls.”

Tim’s awed happiness makes her almost giddy. 

“Yeah?” he asks, clearly excited. “How old? What are their names?”

“Fourteen. Dawn and Violet.” She glows with warm pride. “They’ll be joining Young Justice soon.”

Tim almost beams with satisfaction. She can see some of Robin’s excitement in his eyes. 

“Looks like we’re all growing up, huh?”

She grins. “Looks that way.”

“You’re gonna have to tell me all about them,” he says. 

“As are you.”

Tim leans his shoulder against hers. He reaches for her hand again, and she gladly lets him press a warm kiss to the back of it. She leans her forehead on his temple and revels in the fact that he is there, that he is  _ back.  _ Anger and sadness aside, she never stopped missing him. 

“I’m really glad you’re back,” she mumbles, nudging her nose against his cheek.

“Me too,” he says, and squeezes her hand with both of his. 

They have all the time in the world to talk. They are at peace. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure on the time frame for Cass joining the family in the comics. In this particular timeline, she was early enough to know Jason. 
> 
> I'll reread it when I'm more awake. Tell me if you spot anything wrong.


End file.
